In May 2020, when George Floyd was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, many American classical music institutions joined what appeared to be a society-wide reckoning on racism. The Minnesota Orchestra commissioned a work in Floyd’s memory, by composer Carlos Simon and librettist Marc Bamuthi, called “brea(d)th.” The Chicago Symphony Orchestra shared sobering […]
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Behind the Screens
In 1972, Elayne Jones got her dream job. Within two years, it had become a nightmare. When she won the principal timpani seat of the San Francisco Symphony, Jones became the first Black principal player in any major American orchestra, as well as the first Black woman and, at the time, the only rostered Black […]
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A Freedom to Dream
Few classical music organizations in the United States are as vulnerable to the new “patriotic” diktats of President Donald Trump’s arts policy as White Snake Projects. Founded in 2018 by Cerise Lim Jacobs, a retired lawyer turned librettist, the Boston-based indie opera company’s mission is explicitly activist, with a longstanding emphasis on racial and cultural […]
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ENO Confirms This Season’s Designs Use “AI-Enhanced” Artwork
There’s something rather odd about ENO’s current season, and it’s not that it’s excessively short. As VAN has reported on previously, and others have recently noted online, there’s the strong whiff of unattributed AI involved in their work. First, it was in their website copy, which, for a time, claimed that Benjamin Britten was still […]
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Multisensory Perceptions
The traditional standards of ability and expression in classical music have often overlooked diverse perspectives. Such practices have helped create systemic inequalities that are still profoundly entrenched; recent findings from the Musicians’ Census reveal that 71% of disabled musicians have faced or witnessed discrimination, with 19% reporting it as a significant barrier to career progression. Such […]
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Silence, Ringing Loudly
When members of the Belgrade Philharmonic stepped onto a road crossing in a brief, silent protest last Friday, they were approached by an angry motorist. After being asked to muster a few minutes of restraint and loudly refusing, the driver floored the gas pedal. The outcome? Four members of the orchestra were run down, resulting […]
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Ashley Wass announces his departure from the Yehudi Menuhin School
On Monday, Ashley Wass, director of music at the Yehudi Menuhin School, announced that he will be stepping down from his position at the end of the academic year. In an email sent to parents, Wass said that it felt “strange” to inform them of his decision. Though being part of the YMS community was […]
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Played Off
Unless you’re one of about 20 or so leading composers worldwide, chances are you’re not making a living solely from your art. The barriers for entry into this group are incredibly high, and getting higher: dwindling commission fees, organizations with smaller commissioning pots buddying up to fund a shrinking pool of composers, a sharp, widely […]
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The UK government closes its review into Arts Council England
The fate of the Archer review into Arts Council England (ACE) has been unclear for some time. After a government review of ACE was announced in March—led by Mary Archer, a former chair of the Science Museum Group—the public review was paused before the general election in July. After an email from a Labour government […]
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Welcome to Shorworld
“Fortune is like a bird in a wood. If we know how to whistle to her she will come to us.” —from pianist Ashley Wass’s biography on X, unattributed I: The Amateur About two years ago, a renowned European musician received a call from his agency with an offer for an unusual gig. A Dubai […]